Hand grenade holder



March 2, 1954 G. F. wALToN 2,670,886

HAND GRENADE HOLDER Filed June 13 .1951

INVENTDR. @auf '//fa H TTRNEY Patented Mar. 2, 1954 HAND GRENADE HOLDER.

Grant F. Walton, Medford Lakes, N. '.I.,'assignor ofve per cent vto William Anderson, New'.

Brunswick, N. J.

Applicatien June 13, 1951, Serial N0. 231,303

` Claims. (Cl. 224-26) This invention relates to hand grenadeholders and more speciiically to such a holder as will keep the grenade secured to the person. carrying it, permit its quick withdrawal and prevent withdrawal of the safety pin while the grenade is seated in the holder.

All present types of U. S. hand grenades have the same size and type handle and safety pin arrangement. The handle is often used to carry the grenade, by sliding it over a belt or over the top of ones pants. This, however, leaves the grenade none too securely attached to the person and furthermore leaves the safety pin ring hanging free and subject to being accidentally caught on some passing object such as would be encountered in traveling through heavy brush. Suchaccidental pulling out of the safety pin is rendered virtually impossible if a holder, such as disclosed by the present invention, is used.`

The handle is also for the purpose of arming the grenade when it is being used; the handle is spring loaded away from the grenade but restrained by a. safety pin. When it is desired to fire the grenade, it is held by gripping the body of the grenade, with the handle under the palm of the hand. Then the safety pin is pulled out by means of the ring attached, and the grenade is armed. Now as soon as the grenade is thrown, thespring throws the handle up and res the fuse cap, which starts the time delay fuse, which in turn will detonate the main charge after -a predetermined time delay. 'Once the spring has been released by the handle and the cap red, the fuse will be lit and there is no stopping the explosionrof the grenade. It is for this'reason that great care must be taken to avoid accidental pulling out of the safety pin.

An object of this invention is to provide a holder for hand grenades to give a secure, safe holder which at the saine time allows easy access to the grenade for use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a. holder which may be fastened to any appropriate article of wearing apparel. It may be designed for use on a cartridge belt or pack suspenders or on a BAR belt. By making simple changes in the design, it may be made to llt on a piston belt or any other appropriate place on wearing apparel.

A further object of this invention is to provide a holder which will protect and hold in place the safety pin of the hand grenade. Often when traveling through heavy brush, there is considerable danger that the safety pin will be pulled out and for this reason the protection gained by having a guard for the safety pin of the grenade with entire safety. It may be manufactured from a single stampingout of sheet 'metal of.

desired thickness. Hence it is veryinexpensive to manufacture, especially in large quantities: However, the holder, especially the loopportion thereof, may be made fromy spring metal which will improve its gripping quality'on the belt or clothing of the wearer, but lwill add 'to-the l expense of manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide hand grenade holder which isy designed -tot on a cartridge belt between pockets of the same, which does not interfere with removal offthe cartridges nor With the removal of the grenade itself.

In thedrawings:

Fig. l is-a front elevation-'showing a -holder'in position on a cartridge belt with 'a hand grenade in .the holder;

Figu2 shows a side elevation of the holder and hand grenade with the cartridgeY belt, takenon the line 2-2 ofFig. 1; Y

Fig. 3 isa top or plan view of the holder again in position'on a cartridge belt with a hand grenade in the holder;

Fig. 4 is a perspective'view ofthe holder itself and Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryperspective vieWof-the bottom of the holder showing Vthe' toothishaped split portion ofthe holder. y

A specilc embodiment of the invention-fis shown in the various figures of the drawings. There is a loop generally indicated by reference numeral I I which ts overa cartridge belt shown in the drawings by reference numeral I2. This loop is split or open at the bottom as indicated at reference numeral I3 and in this instance the split is formed with tooth-shaped edges as best seen in Fig. 5. 'I'he purpose of having these teeth is to provide a gripping action of the loop especially in case the holder is to be used on clothing other than a cartridge belt.

A hand grenade as shown in the drawings by reference numeral I4 may be placed in the holder by sliding its handle I5 into the brackets I8. These brackets are so designed that the handle ts easily within the brackets and yet seats firmly AWhen the hand grenade is in its final position because of the widening of the handle I5 at its.

upper portion indicated by reference numerals I1 in Figs. 1 and 3. When the hand grenade is in position in the holder, safety pin I8 becomes nrmly seated between the sides of guard device I9. This guard device is generally U-shaped in form as may be clearly seen in Fig. 4 and it has wing-like flanges 20 at the ends of the U. These flanges aid in the final seating of the hand grenade I4 in position in the holder and are effective because of the curved shape of handle I5 which allows safety pin I8 to move out away from the body of the holder as: it is being lifted out of the holder. The U-shaped guard device i9, abutting against both ends of safety pin I8, when the grenade is seated in the holder, aids in keeping the grenade in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Guard I9 also relieves handle I5 of most of the strain when the grenade bumps against objects when being carried.

Loop II of the holder is made up of a body member 2I to which brackets I6 are integrally attached. The back portion 22 of the loop is preferably formed from the same piece of material as the body member 2l and brackets I6. The U-shaped guard member I9 is illustrated as being a separate piece of material from the rest of the loop II. However, it is obvious that this guard device may be formed out of the same piece of material in the same manner as brackets I6 were formed in this instance. The U-shaped guard member I9 is preferably made of spring steel or other resilient material in order to provide rm and positive seating of the safety pin between its sides.

It is obvious also that the brackets I6 need not be entirely closed across the front. However, it is preferred that they be made entirely closed for greater strength and to present a smoother surface. It will be noted that the ring 23 of the hand grenade may be maintained in a variety of positions. However, the illustrated position is ordinarily the most natural and would be preferred in most instances. It will be noted that the bottom of loop II is closed, i. e. its ends are bent under to meet each other. The purpose of this is to provide a surface below the cartridge belt in order that the holder will not slide up on the belt as a hand grenade is removed. It will be noted also that the holder nts snugly between pockets 24 on cartridge belt I2 leaving free access to these pockets and also not impeding the withdrawal of the grenade itself.

' A specific embodiment of this invention has been illustrated but is not to be taken as limiting the invention in any way. Reference is made to the appended claims for the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a holder for a United States style hand grenade having a handle thereon and a safety pin located transversely to said handle, said holder having a rigid body member with loop means attached thereto for fastening the holder to an article of wearing apparel, and bracket means open at both ends for receiving the handle of said grenade therethrough, a guard device attached to said body member to protect against accidental removal of the safety pin comprising a U-shaped member having flat resilient material sides, each of said sides having a flaring end to guide the safety pin into a secure position between said sides.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the end of each of the sides is rounded.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the sides of said U-shaped member are sloped nearer together at the top than at the bottom thereof.

4. A holder for a United States type hand grenade having a handle and a safety pin transverse thereto comprising a longitudinally elongated body member, transversely located bracket means attached to said body member for receiving the handle of a grenade therethrough, laterally extending guard means attached to said body member above said bracket means comprising flat resilient material side elements for gripping the safety pin therebetween when a grenade is in place in the holder, and means for fastening said body member to an article of wearing apparel.

5. The combination according to claim 4, wherein said side elements are sloped somewhat nearer together at the tops than at the bottoms thereof, and further including rounded anges at the ends of said side elements, said anges flaring in a divergent manner to guide the safety pin into secure engagement between said side elements.

GRANT F. WALTON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

